The only thing that Vladdy Namestnikov remembers about his youth in Syracuse was that it was the place where it all started to go downhill for him.

Vladdy was just a toddler when his dad, John, skated as a defenseman for the Syracuse Crunch in the 1990s. John often brought his son to the War Memorial rink while he practiced with the team, and Vladdy would bounce around playing floor hockey in the hallways.

Vladdy, now 19, doesn’t recall any of that, but another precious moment of winter time frolic has lodged in his memory bank. Vladdy found his thrills on a nearby hill covered with snow.

“I remember a big school near my apartment where I lived,” Vladdy said. “My dad would always take me sledding.”

That was all fun. Vladdy returned to Syracuse last week for the first time since those carefree days, and now he’s almost all business.

Namestnikov, a center, is one of the jewels of Tampa Bay’s system, a first-round pick in 2011. He’s making his pro debut with the very same Crunch franchise that dad once represented, becoming the first second-generation player in the team’s 19-year history.

“I don’t even remember being here, it was so long ago,” he said. “It’s really neat (being back). I never would have thought it would be this way. I’m happy to be here.”

John played for Syracuse from its inaugural season in 1994-95 to 1997. He was a high-risk offensive blueliner, one who kept both teams in the game with his playmaking, turnovers and daredevil judgment jumping into the play. He was also a fearless competitor, with a face pocked by scars from stick cuts and puck marks.

More than a decade later, Vladdy looks almost as fresh-faced as when he first bopped around the War Memorial. He has breezy mop of hair and the clean-slate mug of a speedy finesse player who is hard to target for a good hit. He posted 22 goals and 49 assists in 63 games for London of the OHL last season and has the potential to far exceed his father’s total of 43 career NHL games.

“He’s a great player. He was drafted in the first round because he has an impressive tool box,” said Tampa Bay assistant general manager Julien BriseBois.

That was a gift that Vladdy almost didn’t want to unwrap. Despite his father’s early exposure of him to the sport, Vladdy had no interest in playing hockey as a child.

There was something about all those early-morning risings for youth hockey practice that lacked appeal. Fortunately for him, and eventually Tampa Bay, mom Marina, would tug him out of bed and take him to the rink.

“I was forced into it. I just didn’t like it. My mom worked so hard to make me start playing,” Vladdy said. “My mom would dig me out of bed, put me in the car, take me to practice. She just wanted me to get on the ice as much as possible. We never skipped practice.”

When Vladdy was about seven, he started to become a more willing participant and learned to appreciate his potential in the sport. It was a logical progression considering how deep hockey runs in Vladdy’s bloodlines — his uncle is former NHLer and Stanley Cup champion Slava Kozlov.

A couple years later the family moved back to their native Russia and Vladdy’s desire to improve matched his raw ability.

“I wanted to grow better as a player,” he said. “I thought I’m going to be all the way (to the NHL), and try to make it as a pro. It just went from there.”

As budding players, father and son couldn’t have been more different. John was a sawed-off bulldog at about 5-foot-10, 190 pounds. Vladdy is more lanky and slight, and at 6-foot, 183 clearly needs to bulk up for the rigors of the pro game.

“He told me to keep my head up because it’s really physical here. That’s the best advice he gave me,” Vladdy said. “You have to think faster. It’s more physical. It’s like you’re playing with men.”

Other conversations between the two apparently included some trash-talking.

“I think I’m a better skater than him. He’s kind of slow,” Vladdy said. “We always joke around about that. He said he would have laid me out. He thinks he was so physical.”

In truth Vladdy holds his dad’s ability in high regard, although not lofty enough to place him on the pinnacle with his favorite player of all time. That would be Detroit superstar Pavel Datsyuk.

And John’s ranking on that list? Maybe top 20, Vladdy said.

But dad at least had a long career which included some shifts in the NHL, a resume line that Vladdy has come full circle to attempt to surpass.

“There’s always pressure. It’s my first time in the AHL,” he said. “I’m a little bit nervous. I just have to go out there and show them what I can do. It (pro hockey) is my life now. It is pretty weird (to be back).”